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HomeNewsTrendsAustralian YouTuber captures giant humpback whale doing rare 'headstand' in ocean. Watch

Australian YouTuber captures giant humpback whale doing rare 'headstand' in ocean. Watch

The clip showed the gigantic humpback whale absolutely still with its tail fin in the air and its entire body underwater. According to Science Alert, the rare behaviour is called "tail sailing".

August 15, 2023 / 16:43 IST
The giant humpback whale was captured while doing a rare "headstand". (Representative Image)

A spectacular video of a humpback whale doing a “headstand” in the ocean has gone viral online. Shared on YouTube by Australian kayaker and nature enthusiast Brodie Moss, the clip showed the massive whale showing off its tail fin on the ocean surface without moving.

The now-viral video was shared on a YouTube channel called YBS Youngbloods. The clip showed the gigantic species of whale absolutely still with its tail fin in the air and the entire body underwater.

"My heart is beating so fast. "I think that's a whale tail. It's just come up and stuck its tail up, and it's not going anywhere. I don't even know what to say,” Moss can be heard saying.

While paddling in the ocean on a transparent kayak, Moss plunged his camera underwater to show the whale doing a headstand while its offspring rested near it.

“I believe this is called 'tail sailing' and it's really rare for humpback whales to do, rarely been captured on film and no one really knows why they do it?” read the caption of the post.

Social media users were absolutely stunned too and shared their thoughts in the comments section.

“Can we all agree that raw nature is marvellous? Just perfect experience to have, I envy you!” a user wrote.

Another user commented, “I love how you caught the whales communicating. Proves life is wonderful and nature has its own nature. Beautiful.”

A third user remarked, “We can see whales tail sailing from our house quite often but to see this so close up and on camera under water was just something else!”

“Absolutely incredible,” wrote a fourth.

Meanwhile, “tail sailing” is quite a rare behaviour portrayed by humpbacks, gray whales, bowhead whales, and right whales, according to Science Alert.

When mother whales show this behaviour, their calves generally swim around them, as witnessed by Moss.

A whale researcher told Huffington Post that the behaviour might have to do with resting. Tail sailing could also be a trick to cool down. By sticking their bottoms up into the wind, a warm-blooded whale could theoretically help regulate its temperature, as per the media outlet.

Moneycontrol News
first published: Aug 15, 2023 04:39 pm

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